Vital Powerhouse Exercises for the Core!
Today we are going to teach our powerhouse exercises for the core through core engagement and bridging. These exercises are considered powerhouse exercises because their benefits are endless. They’re crucial in helping alleviate hip pain, low back pain, sacroiliac joint pain, knee pain, ankle pain and stability, and improve posture. First you want to learn how to engage the core properly to later be able to progress to bridging. First, start with deep breathing. This involves inhaling through the nose and inflating the belly, then exhaling through the mouth and pulling in the belly. During this you want to take good deep breaths in and out while following your natural breathing pattern. Most people have lung capacities that allow inhalation and exhalation to last between 5-8 seconds.
It’s important to keep in mind that during exhalation, you want to not only pull in your belly, but make it nice and tight. At the same time, there should be a little bit of space between your back and the surface. This space should be just enough for your hand to fit in. Keep that space while doing the breathing exercise, inhaling and exhaling, while focusing also on not working too hard. Many people tend to compensate the exercise by activating the rectus muscle and bulging those muscles. Nothing in this exercise should bulge. Instead, everything should sink in as if there is a nice tight belt on.
Next, when progressing to bridging, you will want to inhale and inflate, exhale and pull in, and squeeze your glutes while opening up your hips as much as possible. This will create a flat surface from your knees to your chin. Finally, inhale on our way down. The recommendation for this exercise is one set of 20 once a day to start with. Next time, we will talk about other exercises that can improve your core, powerhouse strength, and ultimately help with low back pain, hip pain, posture control, and knee pain. Start building up your strength today!
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Photo Bibliography:Picture 1: https://d3trc5txn7cgdr.cloudfront.net/assets/content/cache/made/assets/content/cache/remote/https_s3.amazonaws.com/yoga-assets/assets/content/articles/AID_0373_FINAL_IMAGES-1_760_427_int.JPGPicture 2: http://www.self.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/firm-fast-simple-ballet-moves-bridge-with-leg-extension-1-410.jpg
